Eight long years we have waited, and finally, here it is: Dead by Daylight's first new game mode. Here is everything you need to know about Lights Out.
Dead by Daylight opened the gates to the Entity's realm way back in 2016. For almost 8 years now, horror icons like Michael Myers have been hunting down characters from completely different franchises, such as Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil. And for at least as long, fans of the asymmetrical multiplayer game have been longing for new game modes. Finally, Behaviour is releasing a new modifier to Dead by Daylight called Lights Out.
Lights Out Makes DBD Scary Again
Over the years, DBD has evolved significantly. While there were only 3 killers and 4 survivors in 2016, the lineup of playable characters has now grown to a total of 74 characters. Additionally, numerous maps have been added, some of which even depict famous locations from movies and other games.
Despite the variety of characters, the element of horror eventually got lost for many longtime players, as the game itself never really changed much.
During the last developer stream, the team finally announced that they would be trying out new modes. From February 7 to February 14, the first limited-time modifier called Lights Out will be available.
In the stream, we first hear some background about the latest chapter of the game, Alan Wake. Around halfway through, the presentation shifts to the new mode, which will initially be available for a limited time. The reason for this is that the developers want to get a feel for the new concept first. The ultimate goal, however, is to try out and offer additional game modes that are available for longer.
Lights Out will be a new mode that can be played alongside the regular public matches. So this is different from previous events where new game additions influenced every match.
As you can imagine, in this mode, the maps you play on will be very dark. However, that's not the only change.
The killers will no longer have a terror radius, which means that you can't see or hear if a killer is approaching. So, brace yourselves for some jump scares. On the other hand, the killers will no longer see scratch marks. So, if survivors are running away from you, keep a keen eye on them because you won't see any glowing tracks left behind by them anymore.
And before you think "No biggie, I always bring my wallhack perks anyway, I don't need scratch marks or a terror radius"; forget about it! Because in Lights Out, you go into the trial just as God– ahem, I mean the Entity created you: Without a loadout. You can't bring perks, items, offerings or add-ons.
But wait, there's more: What I personally find most interesting is that during the matches, a large part of the HUD will be removed. For example, as a survivor, you won't see how far the generator progressed or how many gens have already been completed. This also applies to the killer's view, who also won't see how many survivors they've hooked. Yes, that means you'll have to count.
To add more variability to the mix, survivors will find more chests on the maps than usual, which also contain better items. So, always keep your eyes open; a medkit can be a true game-changer.
So many cool changes? What kind of Dead by Daylight article is this? No worries, to temper all the positivity, I have a downside for you: Lights Out will not be available in custom games. So, if you're a group of 5 people, you won't be able to play together, which is actually really sad. I think the game mode would have been a good fit for a fun evening with friends.
But what isn't can still become. As the developers mentioned, Lights Out is just the first modifier being tried out. In the last satisfaction survey, players were asked to rank potential new game modes. For example, the 2 vs. 8 mode that is already available on DBD Mobile was mentioned, so maybe some day we'll be able to unleash 2 killers on 8 survivors.
Let's hope for a future full of variety.